Principal Animator


Jens Heinrich

There`s nothing harder to do in animation than nothing. Movement is our medium!

I working as Principal Animator at Cloud Imperium Games on:
Squadron 42 / Star Citizen
Published by Cloud Imperium Games
focused primarily on FPS combat & player locomotion, using the Lumberyard Engine


I worked as Gameplay Character Animator at Yager on:

Dreadnought
Published by Greybox with Six Foot
Dreadnought is a cooperative multiplayer combat flight simulator for Microsoft Windows with single-player and story-driven campains, using the Unreal Engine 4.

Dead Island 2
Published by DeepSilver
Dead Island 2 is a triple A first-person cooperative multiplayer in an open world with RPG elements using the Unreal Engine 4.

Spec Ops: The Line
Published by 2K Games
Spec Ops: The Line is a triple A cover based, 3rd person military shooter developed using the Unreal Engine 3.

 

Curriculum Vitae

September 2021 - Present


July 2017 - August 2021

 



July 2016 - June 2017

Cloud Imperium Games, Manchester
Principal Animator 

Cloud Imperium Games, Manchester
Senior Animator
working on Squadron 42 / Star Citizen
focused primarily on FPS combat & player locomotion


worked as a freelance Animator for unannounced projects

September 2008 - June 2016

Yager Development GmbH, Berlin
Character Animator

worked on Dreadnought
player is the commander of a gargantuan battleship in an ever-expanding sci-fi universe (Released closed beta 29. April 2016)
worked on
2 Prototype Pitches
first person shooters with character and creature animations
worked on Dead Island 2
action role-playing open world survival horror video game with eight-player cooperative multiplayer (Cancelled July 2015)
worked on Spec Ops: The Line
intense narrative-driven military shooter that explores the dark side of war, set against the backdrop of the sandstorm-ravaged city of Dubai (Released June 2012)

April 2006 - October 2008

Games Academy GmbH, Berlin
- graduated study at the Games Academy as „Game Art & Animation“
since April 2007
- graduated study at the Games Academy as „Game Designer“
April 2007 - April 2006

October 2001 – March 2006

Saxonia Media film production GmbH, Leipzig
- first Camera Assistant, TV series „In aller Freundschaft“ (ARD)

​November 2000 – August 2001

German Federal Armed Forces

1999 – 2000

graduation:
- advanced technical college entrance qualificatio

1997 – 1999

vocational qualification:
- officially recognized technical-design
assistant for media/communication

​1987 – 1997

school


Add. Information

  • Languages: German (native language), English (good)

  • Hobbies: games, film, sports (swim, basketball), theater and museum visits


Skills

  • ability to work collaboratively in a team environment

  • ability to work under pressure with aiming for the best results

  • communication and time managment skills

  • flexible and professional

  • huge variety in animation: characters and creatures, key-frame and motion capture, gameplay/ scripted and cinematic

  • good knowledge of the technical aspects of rigging, skinning characters + assets and retargeting for animations

  • strong knowledge with Unreal 3 & 4 and good knowledge with Lumberyard Engine

  • deep experience with animation software Autodesk Maya and Autodesk Motion Builder

  • perfectionist, balanced, inquisitively, authentic

  • Face FX and some facial animation experiences

  • used to all common animation software and tools

Work Tasks

  • create high quality animations by utilizing both hand key and motion capture data

  • create and maintain high-end key frame animations (body motions and facial expression)

  • integrate and clean up motion-captured animations and adapt to the defined animation style and parameters

  • troubleshoot and solve animation issues with all departments

  • implement animation assets into game engine (Unreal 3 & 4) and iterate as needed

  • organize, coordinate and accurately estimate animation tasks: animation production pipelines, breakdown animation list, animation outsourcing and motion capture shootings

Software

  • Maya

  • Motionbuilder

  • 3D Studio Max

  • Epic Unreal Engine 3 & 4

  • Lumberyard Engine

  • Perforce

  • Hansoft / Jira

  • Microsoft Office

  • Photoshop

  • Premiere